Synopsis

1945. Junpei and his little brother Kanta are two children who live with their father Tatsuo on a tiny island off the northernmost shores of Japan, and which has remained virtually untouched by the rage war. As Japan surrenders on August 15th, everybody is expecting American troops to land anytime. But it is the Red Army which arrives instead, because the island has now become Soviet Union territory. And for the Japanese community, a new life with the Soviet citizens who have moved onto the island begins... Based on true events.

Mizuho Nishikubo

Nishikubo (Tokyo, 1953) is a long-time collaborator of Mamoru Oshii, serving as sequence director in Ghost in the Shell (1995), Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) and The Sky Crawlers (2008). He began his career in 1975 at Tatsunoko, and later joined Osamu Dezaki in Lady Oscar (1979). He directed Video Girl Ai (1992, OVA), Otogi Zoshi (2004, TV), Atagoal: Cat’s Magical Forest (2006, movie), and the music clip Tsepi i kol'tsa (2003) for Russian rock star Linda. His feature film, Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai (2009) screened in Locarno, Warsaw and Sitges.